


Gratitude

by LeanaVine



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Coffee, Coffee Shops, Eventual Relationships, F/M, First Meetings, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Meet-Cute, One-sided Ahsoka/Anakin, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Possibly Unrequited Love, Rating May Change, Romantic Fluff, Soft Ben Solo, Starbucks, Tags May Change, Temporarily Unrequited Love, Tumblr, Unrequited Crush, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:13:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24549700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeanaVine/pseuds/LeanaVine
Summary: AU. Ben Solo works at a small, local Starbucks, and his world shifts when he meets Rey, a sweet, yet somewhat mysterious new customer. Ahsoka ships it, but Anakin is unsure of this new girl at first.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	Gratitude

**Author's Note:**

> So, I actually wrote this story in October 2018 on Fanfic . net. I never finished it, and decided to update/edit it and repost the chapters here. I know I have lots of other stories going right now, but know that I will get to them! (Eventually...)
> 
> Anyway, I used to work at Starbucks. I was a supervisor for three years. So, coffee shop AU's are near and dear to my heart. I don't really remember what inspired this story, other than I wanted a setting where I could have all of my favorite characters together. So, here is an AU that includes my favorite hetero Star Wars ships, along with all the coffee shop jargon. I hope you enjoy!!

Ben Solo didn't  _ hate _ his job at the local Starbucks, he would just much rather be at home in bed right now. He had to stop staying up so late, he reminded himself as he wondered what kind of coffee he’d like to wake him up. Ahsoka was in the back busy getting caught up on the dirty dishes that the night crew had left for them that morning. He knew they did it out of spite, and so he'd told Ahsoka not to bother with them, but she'd said that she couldn't stand to just leave them there. So, Ben was left in the front of the store alone. Everything was pretty much stocked, so he was leaning against the counter, scrolling through Tumblr on his phone.

It was just like any other day, until-

"Excuse me." It was a soft, British voice, and something about it struck Ben in the chest and caused him to freeze. He looked up from his phone to see a beautiful, young brunette with windblown hair standing at the cash register. He felt embarrassed for a moment, having been caught on his phone during work, but that faded when she giggled. Oh...that was a very nice sound.

Ben cleared his throat, pushing off the counter and standing in front of the register. "Um, how can I help you, miss?" he asked, voice a little shaky. The younger girl's face was flawless, aside from the clusters of freckles on her nose, which were too cute to really be flaws. Kinda like dandelions.

He was pulled from his musing when she said, "I've...never been here before, and I'm a little lost." She smiled, looking a little shameful. Her brown eyes said,  _ oops _ . Ben opened his mouth to speak, but she added, "I got this card," she held up a Starbucks gift card - a Halloween one with a black cat and a pumpkin on it, "and I think there's $10 on it? What exactly can that get me?"

Ben wanted to just keep staring at her, but he was speaking before he could think twice about it. Muscle memory and all that. "Well, $10 is pretty much enough for a drink and a cookie, if you want."

"Really?" She seemed to light up at this. "I was worried I wouldn't have enough for food. Well, that's good news." The young woman grinned, looking so excited about the prospect of a snack with her coffee.

He couldn't help but smile back at her. "So what do you like? Do you like coffee, or do you maybe prefer tea?" Was that stereotypical to assume that since she was British, she may want tea? No, lots of young women loved tea. It was an aesthetic thing with most girls her age: a cup of green tea, a novel, and rain.

She pondered for a moment, looking at the menu. "I'm not sure... I think I tried coffee once, but it was pretty bitter." The girl made a sour face, and Ben chuckled, which made her giggle too. God, she was intoxicating. "What do you have that's really sweet?" she asked.

Ben thought for a second. "Hot or cold?"

"Hmm...hot? It's a bit chilly out, yeah?"

With a nod, Ben glanced over at the various syrups to his left. "Well, you could get a latte, with any flavor you like." He was met with a confused gaze, and smiled. "Okay, so, do you know what a latte is?" The girl shook her head, and he chuckled again. He wasn't trying to be condescending. She was just cute. "Well, a latte is basically steamed milk and espresso, and you can add any flavored syrup that you'd like."

"Espresso is that coffee that has tons of caffeine, right?" she asked, hand on her cheek, either in thought or apology. "I just...feel like a moron, but I honestly don't know much about coffee. Just what I've read, really."

Waving a hand, Ben dismissed her insecurities. "You're not a moron, trust me. You want to see a moron?" He hunched down so that he was eye-level to her, and started to feel his heart rate quicken. Motioning with a nod of his head, he said, "That guy over there?" He waited for her to discreetly turn and look at the older man in the corner, sipping from a glass mug. "He comes in almost every morning, orders a caramel macchiato, upside down, minus the caramel, add an extra pump of vanilla." When the girl looked even more confused than before, Ben wondered why he told a barista joke to a newbie, hoping it would help her feel less dumb. "Sorry. He's basically paying extra for a complicated vanilla latte, when he doesn't have to. I- I feel like the moron here."

The girl giggled. "Well, I hope that someday I can understand your joke, but I appreciate you trying to help me feel better." Her smile held so much warmth, Ben felt the muscles in his back relax, as if looking at her was equivalent to laying in a hot bath. Was that weird? Stop being so weird, Ben.

"Don't worry," he assured her, "I'll teach you everything you need to know about coffee, and then you'll get why Dave knows less than you do now." He straightened, putting a hand on his hip. "Anyway, back to your order. Something hot and sweet, let me see..." He almost laughed when he thought,  _ ‘I can't suggest that she order one of herself, can I?’ _ Ben looked at the menu in an attempt to hide his smile. "Well, do you like caramel? What about white chocolate?" He glanced back at her, awaiting her answer.

She appeared to be focusing hard. "Well, I really love caramel and chocolate, but I'm not sure about white chocolate. Do you have anything that has caramel and chocolate?"

Nodding, Ben said, "You could just get a mocha with caramel added, or you can try the salted caramel mocha."

The girl raised her hand over her head, as if she were in elementary school. When Ben nodded to her, she lowered her hand and asked, "What's mocha?"

"Oh, right. Well, mocha is just the coffee way of saying chocolate. So, if you order a mocha latte, that's espresso, steamed milk, and chocolate sauce," Ben told her. He only just now thought about any other customers that might be in line, but when he looked over the girl's head, there was no one behind her.

Glancing over the menu once more, she finally decided, "Can I have a salted caramel mocha?"

Ben smiled. "Great, of course. What size?"

She looked stumped again. "Oh... Well, I know that it's not small, medium, and large here, but I don't know what the sizes actually are."

"Well, you can still say small, medium, or large if you want. I don't mind."

The girl shook her head defiantly. "No, I need to learn the right terms."

He beamed at her, happy at her determination. "Well, okay." Ben pointed to the small size. "This is a tall." Then the next. "Grande." Then the biggest hot cup. "And venti."

She looked at the cups one at a time, as if repeating their names in her mind. Ben thought she was too cute, trying so hard to memorize the right words. Sadly, if she weren't this adorable, he probably never would have spent this much time on her. He just would've suggested a white mocha and told her to wait at the end of the counter. This moment really made him reflect on how careless he could be sometimes. The girl finally said, "Okay, I'll take a grande salted caramel mocha."

He couldn't have been prouder. "You already sound like a pro," he admitted, and she smiled bashfully at the floor, folding her hands behind her back. This was a small Starbucks, where there was no drive-thru, and all the cups were written on with black Sharpies, not labeled with a sticker printed off the register. Ben didn't have the best handwriting, but he moved slowly on this girl's cup, wanting to do his best. When he had the code for the drink written, he looked up at her again. "Can I have your name?"

She smiled, pushing some hair out of her face. "Rey. R-E-Y."

After Ben had written her name on the cup, looping the Y in a pretty way, he put the cup on the counter and held out his hand to shake. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Rey."

The girl looked a little surprised, then beamed, taking his hand and shaking it. "And it's nice to meet you," she stopped to look at the chalk writing on his name tag, "Ben."

From the other end of the counter, Ahsoka smiled at Anakin, who was sitting in a bar stool. "This is weird," Anakin admitted. "Ben is never this nice to any of the customers."

"That's because he likes her, duh," Ahsoka told him with a huge grin. "This could be the start of something wonderful."

Rolling his eyes, Anakin replied, "Oh please, give me a break. There's no way Ben would ever get into a relationship."

"Everyone needs someone," Ahsoka said, looking a little sad.

Shaking his head, Anakin answered, "Not Ben."

After putting her drink order into the computer, Ben looked back up at Rey. "Okay, so, which pastry would you like?" he asked.

Suddenly, she was puzzled again. She hadn't even looked in the pastry case yet. As she walked over to it, Rey asked, "Do you have any suggestions? Do you have a favorite?" There was a lot to choose from, and she was pretty hungry, so it would be hard to make up her mind on her own.

Ben quirked his lip, glancing into the case himself. "I don't eat a lot of sweets, honestly," he admitted. "Umm, can't go wrong with a chocolate chip cookie, warmed up. Or maybe a blueberry muffin?" He pointed to some shriveled, brown muffins with green seeds. "I would avoid the morning muffins, though. They're not terrible, but I wouldn't spend money on them."

Rey giggled. "They look...healthy." Then she pointed to a pastry with chocolate coming out the ends. "What's that?"

"Oh that? That's a chocolate croissant." He half smiled. "They're pretty good, and it's cool that they're good either room temp or warmed up."

The teen girl gently tapped on the glass with a smile. "One of those, please. Warmed up, if that's okay."

Ben happily put the pastry on a piece of wax paper and placed it in the oven. "Is there anything else I can do for you?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No, that'll do, thank you, Ben."

As Ben walked back to the register, he noticed Ahsoka talking to Anakin at the end of the bar. He cleared his throat, and the Togruta girl straightened. Ben motioned to Rey's cup with his eyes, and the other girl gasped quietly. "Oh, sorry," she apologized, hurriedly making the drink. He could hear Anakin chuckling from his bar stool.

Ben put Rey's order into the register, then looked down at her kindly. He was about to speak when the oven beeped. "Hold on one second." He quickly took out the croissant, and put it in a brown bag before handing it to the younger girl. "Okay, that'll be $8.67."

Letting out a whistle, Rey handed over her spoopy gift card. "Seems like quite a bit for a drink and croissant, but I guess it is a _ fancy _ drink." She wrinkled her nose and smiled, giggling a little.

Ben couldn't help but smile back at her and nod in agreement. "It is kinda dumb, but I guess when you think about it, it does kinda make sense. People say that's a lot of money for a drink, but they're mostly paying for the espresso. Starbucks uses pretty nice coffee, so they get to charge a little bit more than McDonald's."

"Filthy place," Ahsoka muttered under her breath as she topped the salted caramel mocha with whipped cream.

Rey looked at Ben with a bit of confusion, so he clarified, "A lot of Starbucks employees hate McDonald's and some other cheap coffee places. They cheapen everything, and make a mockery of what we stand for."

"Amen," Ahsoka added with a smile, handing the drink to Ben.

With a giggle, Rey said, "You seem pretty passionate about your job."

"Who me?" Ben asked. "No, that's Ahsoka."

"It's true," the red-skinned girl added, "I care way more about the job than Ben, or anybody else for that matter. Coffee is an art that should be respected."

Rolling his eyes, Ben retorted, "Now you sound like Thrawn."

"Hey," Ahsoka countered, "you say that like it's a bad thing! I happen to think Thrawn is awesome. He's so smart, and he's been everywhere."

Ben turned away from her, to look back at Rey and hand her her drink. "Sorry, talking about another regular. Anyway, I hope you have a good day."

"Yeah, come back and see us!" Ahsoka piped in. Before Ben could protest, she was walking to the other end of the counter to talk to Anakin again.

Rey looked a bit bashful, but smiled. "She seems nice." Ben scoffed, and Rey laughed. "Really, is she so bad?"

With a shrug, Ben replied, "I guess not. There's worse, for sure, but I'd never let her know that." He glanced over at Ahsoka, who was giggling at something that Anakin was saying, like always.

Rey shrugged, too. "Well, here I go, I guess," she said, raising her drink. She eyed it carefully before taking a very slow sip, careful so that she wouldn't burn her tongue. First came the cool whipped cream and caramel drizzle, so sweet. Then was the coffee. It was hot, but not as hot as she'd been expecting, and sweeter than she thought it would be, too. The dark chocolate and salted caramel mingled together well. She hummed, licking her lips. "Oh, that's so good. Even better than I anticipated."

Ben grinned. "Great, well, I'm so glad you like it. It's a pretty popular drink, so I thought you would. I'm just glad your first experience at a Starbucks was a good one." He raised a brow. "It was a good one, right?"

She nodded happily. "Of course! You guys are really nice. I was expecting you to suggest something gross and expensive and take my money." When he looked a bit sad, she added, "Well, I just figured you'd all take your coffee very seriously."

"I do," Ben replied, "but everyone has to start somewhere. And I'd be an ass if I was mean to you just because you'd never been here before."

Rey smiled at the floor. "You're kind, I appreciate that. I need more of that in my life." She seemed solemn, like she'd been through a lot and was battle-worn. Ben wanted to know more, but he wouldn't go digging. After all, he hardly knew her, though he did want to get to know her. He didn't want to think about how odd it was that he did want to get to know someone - a girl, especially.

"Well," he finally said, licking his lips nervously, "you should come back and see us again, like Ahsoka said, and hang out sometime. We're not usually very busy, and we have WiFi."

She giggled again. "That sounds great." Rey looked at the floor again. "Umm, I'm new to the area, and I don't have any friends here yet, so I may just have to take you up on that."

Ben couldn't help but smile and laugh nervously. "Well, great, I'd like that." He ran a hand through his jet black hair. Ben wasn't the best with social interactions.

As it turns out, Rey wasn't either. "Okay. I'll, umm, talk to you later?" Ben nodded to her, and she waved her croissant bag before walking over to a table to sit down.

Honestly, Ben couldn't help but watch her as she munched on her snack. She was just so cute, and he was infatuated with her immediately.

"Are you in love?" Ahsoka asked over his shoulder, making him jump and burn himself with the hot milk he was pouring.

He mumbled an ouch before replying, "No." As he dried his hand, he lied, "She's just nice, is all. Nice people are..."

"Nice?" Anakin chirped with a smirk. "C'mon, Ben, tell me Snips is wrong. You're not actually forming an attachment, are you?"

"Haha," Ben grumbled, finishing constructing a caramel macchiato for himself, feeling like he needed to wake up and face reality. "And, to be clear, I'm not against attachments. I just...don't form them often."

"He's in  _ looove _ ," Ahsoka cooed, swaying and clutching her hands to her chest.

Ben gently nudged her. "Immature." She and Anakin both laughed in response.


End file.
